Search on in Denali for overdue small plane

By MARY PEMBERTON
The Associated Press

Published: October 15th, 2009 12:22 PM
Last Modified: October 15th, 2009 02:16 PM

A search was under way Thursday for an overdue aircraft inside Denali National Park with a pilot and a wolf biologist on board.

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The plane took off at about noon Wednesday and was supposed to return by nightfall. The Park Service was notified about midnight that the plane was overdue.

Fister said a flight plan indicated the two were looking for wolf packs. Thursday's search was focused on the north side of the park because that is where wolves tend to be, she said.

Haber, an independent biologist who for decades has studied Denali's wolves, is a frequent visitor to the 6-million-acre park.

It was not known where Haber intended to look for wolves on Wednesday.

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For years, Haber has pushed for greater protections for the wolves when they venture outside park boundaries and onto state lands, where they can be hunted and trapped. Two years ago he was angered when as many as 19 wolves, including four collared wolves, were killed outside the northeast boundary of the park and outside a no-trapping buffer zone.

An entry on his Web site in March said the Toklat pack remained at 11 wolves, including five to six pups, down from 14 to 17 wolves in late January.

Haber said the information was garnered from his research flights.

"He has been here and doing research in this area for many years," Fister said. "Obviously, he is very familiar with the park."

Fister said a C-130 aircraft was used Wednesday night in an attempt to pick up the plane's emergency locator if it had been activated, but no signal was detected.

The weather in the park on Wednesday was clear with some low-lying fog banks. Winds were calm. On Thursday, the weather was mostly overcast with a trace of snow.

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/aviation/story/974810.html

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